By Brian McCauley  | The Louisburg Herald

U.S. Rep. Lynn Jenkins faced tough questions on a variety of topics ranging from environmental regulations and agriculture to health care and bipartisanship during a town hall-style meeting Thursday in Paola.

About 25 people attended the Coffee With Your Congresswoman event Thursday in the commissioners’ chambers of the Miami County Administration Building.

Jenkins repeatedly criticized the U.S. Senate and Majority Leader Sen. Harry Reid for failing to take action on the more than 350 bills that have passed out of the House and await Senate action. A majority of those bills, she added, passed the House with bipartisan support.

Jenkins also was asked what she thought about the Environmental Protection Agency’s plan to rewrite Clean Water Act rules without permission from Congress.

“We have been very frustrated with the EPA as a sixth generation ag producer in the state of Kansas,” Jenkins said. “We want clean water and air, but the problem is we’ve lost all common sense.”

If any changes are made to the rules, Jenkins said they should happen at the Congress level, not through EPA mandates.

“They shouldn’t be writing laws, rules and regulations, that is our job,” Jenkins said. “Trying to regulate a puddle of water on someone’s farm is ridiculous. Agriculture in this nation depends on us pushing back on these regulations.”

One audience member asked Jenkins what she thought about attaching term limits to senators. Jenkins said she didn’t like the idea of keeping the voters from re-electing someone they wanted to represent them.

“I would hesitate to introduce legislation that would take back the power from you, the people,” Jenkins said.

One audience member asked Jenkins if she would vote for the health care compact of states seeking to break away from the Affordable Care Act and take over Medicare.

Jenkins said she doesn’t vote on state issues, and instead she supports the House’s plan to save Medicare. Jenkins said anyone younger than 55 would get a choice to either stay with Medicare as is or join a premium support program.

Jenkins is a Republican seeking re-election in the state’s 2nd District. She will face Democratic challenger Margie Wakefield in the November election.